Feather White
by Neko-chan the Mewse
Summary: Little Allen closed his eyes and buried his face into his new guardian’s white cloak, unaware of how close he had been to being visited by the Millennium Earl. History would never be the same.
1. Chapter 1

**I haven't seen anything like this done yet.**

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**Feather White  
By Neko-chan the Mewse  
7/21/09**

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"M-mana…" Allen sniffed and curled closer to his adoptive father's gravestone. "Mana…" A flash of white caught his attention. He looked up to find a young adult in a pale ragged cloak. The teen was as pale as his cloak with his white hair and pale eyes and Allen couldn't help but stare in awe at him. "Are you an angel?"

Those cold blue grey eyes locked onto him and Allen shivered. "An angel…? No, not quite. Will you come with me?" A gloved hand was extended towards him and Allen blinked. Strangers weren't safe, but for some odd reason, this one felt very familiar. It couldn't hurt, could it?

Allen reached out with one mitten covered hand and hesitantly grasped the teen's hand. In an instant, he was surrounded by soft white and gently bundled closer to the teen's chest. "My name's Allen Walker. What's your name?" he asked his new guardian with all the innocence of a child as the teen began walking away from the grave.

He was pressed against his savior's chest and could feel the other's voice rumble through his chest. "I don't have a name. Not anymore."

"Can I give you one then?" Allen asked. He didn't want his friend to be nameless. The white haired teen slowly nodded and Allen smiled. "You can be Snowy!"

"How about I call myself 'Yuki' instead?" The newly named Yuki said. "It means the same thing in Japanese. Snowy isn't exactly a name for humans."

"I guess you're right." Allen mused. "Do you speak Japanese?"

"A little," Yuki smiled. It had been out of necessity that he had learned bits of Japanese. "It's not much though. We've got to get you cleaned up. Where have you been staying since Mana's funeral?" Yuki already knew the answer but he needed Allen to say it.

Allen bit his lip before confessing, "I stayed with Mana."

"That won't do," Yuki said. "You're coming with me."

Allen didn't mind going with the kind teen. Even if he wasn't an angel, Yuki still looked like one and Allen liked that. He didn't know how Yuki would react if Allen called him pretty though, so he wouldn't say anything. Little Allen closed his eyes and buried his face into his new guardian's white cloak, unaware of how close he had been to being visited by the Millennium Earl.

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Yuki was an excellent guardian and seemed to know exactly what Allen wanted and needed. This only reinforced Allen's thoughts that Yuki was an angel in disguise.

Yuki had been quick to lay out ground rules. Allen was to stay close to him at all times. Allen would listen and obey if Yuki gave an order. Allen was allowed to voice his opinion as long as he didn't shout it. Under Yuki's care, Allen began to flourish.

Sure, Yuki was a bit strange. Allen didn't know where Yuki was getting his money and had asked one time only to find out that Yuki was somehow getting all his money from poker games. They wandered about the country with no actual aim until Yuki decided to settle them in an abandoned cabin.

Allen could fondly recall the days he spent helping Yuki fix the place up. It was hard work and Yuki was a slave driver, but at the end of the day Yuki would give him a fond pat to the head and compliment him. It was an amazingly effective tactic. Allen worked as hard as he could and lived for the moments Yuki praised him.

Then one day, Yuki sat down and told him a story about exorcists and Noah and monsters called akuma that could wear human skins. Allen had shivered and asked if it was real. Yuki had looked at him with a weary gaze and said yes. Then he showed Allen his own innocence, Crown Clown, and mentioned that Allen had an innocence as well.

Allen was astonished. The whole thing had sounded like something from a horror story. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen proof. One day, while they were in town to pick up supplies, an akuma attacked them. Yuki had taken it out quickly and Allen had seen something that made him curious.

"Yuki," Allen said quietly. Yuki turned to face him with a quirked eyebrow. "What happened with your eye?"

Yuki reached up to touch his left eye. "This eye lets me see the souls of the akuma."

"What do they look like?" Allen asked curiously. He wondered what souls looked like.

Yuki gave Allen a sad smile and Allen instantly regretted his question. "They're crying, Allen. They're in pain and they cry for their loved ones." Yuki looked as if he was in pain. "The only way to free them is to destroy them with an innocence."

Allen looked at Yuki, at how much pain the akuma put him in, and thought about the trapped souls. At that moment, Allen knew he was destined to become an exorcist. He would help save those trapped souls.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is going to be slow going. Please bear with me.**

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**Feather White  
By Neko-chan the Mewse  
1/26/10**

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Allen pondered. Yuki had definitely assigned him a difficult task. How was he supposed to do this?!

"Allen," Yuki called from inside the small cabin they had stayed in for five years. "Stop fooling around and chop the wood already!" Allen made a face. "And stop making faces." He had no idea how his adopted older brother knew what he was doing at all times. It was simply amazing. Allen couldn't even see Yuki from where he was and if he couldn't see Yuki, then Yuki shouldn't be able to see him either.

"How am I supposed to chop the wood without an ax?" Allen yelled back. He went back to staring at the log in front of him. Earlier Yuki had cheerfully destroyed their only ax right before his eyes and then told him to chop wood.

"You still have a weapon, don't you?"

Allen scowled. For the past five years, ever since Yuki had taken him from Mana's grave, he had had to do strange exercises like this. Yuki had shown him how to activate his Innocence and had even goaded him into changing its form. Yuki had worked hard to keep Allen up to date on just about everything, from news around the world to how to take care of a garden, and Allen really was grateful. But when Yuki gave him mundane chores to complete and forced him to use his Innocence to accomplish them, he couldn't help but be irritated. _Innocence, activate!_ His arm went straight to sword form and he began cutting wood rather haphazardly.

"Please cut the wood _neatly_." Yuki's voice reprimanded.

Allen sighed, anger seeping out of him like water. He couldn't stay mad at Yuki for long. He had no idea why but the older boy had the ability to easily soothe him, no matter what the situation.

Inside the cabin, Yuki bit his lip and glanced outside the cabin. He had to send Allen off to the Order soon. Allen was well synchronized with his Innocence, far more than Yuki was at his age, and Yuki knew that things might go awry if he didn't send Allen off. At the same time, he didn't want to do that to the poor boy. He wanted to hold onto his 'younger brother' and never let him out of his sight. At this rate, he might develop a brother complex. Yuki shook his head, determined to never become that fanatical.

He focused on the vegetables he was chopping before giving up with a sigh. "Allen, come inside please." He said, loud enough for Allen to hear him through the open window. There was a thud and a suspicious silence. "You better not have broken anything!" Yuki raised his voice.

"I-I didn't break anything!" Allen's voice squeaked.

Yuki sighed. Anyone who had raised a child for any amount of time would recognize the muted oh-crap-now-what-do-I-do? tone. It was also surprisingly easy to recall what his own mentality had been at fifteen and predict what Allen was doing from that. Luckily, judging from what he had heard, Allen had done nothing more than swing and hit the ground instead of his intended target. Yuki didn't mind a hole in the ground. "Forget it and get in here."

It didn't take Allen long to get inside the small cabin and into the kitchen. "What is it, Yuki?" Allen asked sulkily.

"I've taught you about Innocence, exorcists, and the Noah." Yuki said softly, looking at his mismatched hands. "I have nothing else to teach you. It's about time you got some hands on experience."

Allen's eyes brightened. He had been begging to go the Black Order for the past year or so, desperate to get out and do something more about the akuma. "You mean—?"

Yuki nodded. "Yes. Pack your things; I'll take you to the Black Order." He wouldn't be like his master and send Allen on his own. Even if he couldn't take Allen to the gate, he could at least accompany him part way.

Allen let out a small cheer and quickly ran to his room to start packing. Behind him, Yuki sighed. He was only twenty four, but after all that he had seen, he felt so _old_. At least Allen was behaving a little less like an adult. He was still responsible, but not so responsible that he didn't know how to relax. _Not like me_, Yuki thought with a small amount of relief.

He heard Allen crashing through the hallway before he slammed the kitchen door open. "Come on, Yuki, let's go, let's go!"

Yuki sighed and hefted up the bag he had packed earlier. "Alright, hold on already!" Had he really ever been this excitable? Maybe he was before he had spent time around his master. By now he was so used to being quiet and polite that he did it automatically. It made it all the more shocking when he stopped being so kind.

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Allen stared rather warily at the large mountainous cliff the Black Order rested on. It was huge and…and… "I'm supposed to climb that?!" he asked incredulously. He couldn't even see the Black Order from where he was standing.

Yuki nodded in agreement, silently holding in a mischievous snicker and conveniently forgetting to mention the underground canal and elevator. "It'll be good practice. I can't come with you any further—you know why," he said when Allen looked at him pleadingly. "You're on your own now." His stern expression softened and he smiled at his charge. "But you can come back anytime you like. Even if you're in trouble I'll welcome you back."

Allen's eyes got suspiciously watery and he turned his back. "I'll see you later, brother."

Yuki was glad that Allen had turned away at that moment because otherwise Allen would have seen him crying. He really, really didn't want to let Allen go off and get into danger, but he didn't have much choice at this point. The only thing he could do was hope that he had trained the kid well enough and standby with a first aid kit. As he watched the way Allen was climbing the cliff, he thought he might actually need one.

"You can use your Innocence, silly!" He cupped his hands and yelled. He received several swears in response but Allen listened and activated his Innocence, using the giant claws to help drag himself upwards.

There had to be another way up, Allen growled to himself. He refused to believe that all the other exorcists did this every time they came back from a mission. He wouldn't be able to find it though and he knew it. Yuki wouldn't tell him either, not when this could be used as a training exercise for him.

"Oh yeah, watch out, they might not want to let you in!" he heard Yuki shout from below him.

Allen loved Yuki, yes, but sometimes he wanted to strangle his brother/parent/guardian. Yuki could be so absent minded sometimes.

It was almost like that one time Yuki had sent him into a marsh to collect a medicinal flower, forgetting to mention that the marsh was full of poisonous plants that looked almost _exactly like the one he was looking for_. If he hadn't noticed the poisonous flowers had a slightly different color, he would have never known he grabbed the wrong type. He had spent a week recovering from that incident, Yuki hovering over him apologetically the entire time.

His hand slipped off the cliff, dragging him back to the present, where he was hanging almost three stories off the ground by one hand and, for the sake of his own well being, decided to remain focused on the task at hand. Namely, climbing.

It took him the entire afternoon to scale the cliff. It might have taken longer if he hadn't used his Innocence. With a sigh of relief, he sat down on solid ground for the first time in several hours. He could see the entrance to the Black Order a little ways off and it was with trepidation that he approached it.

Allen glanced up at the intimidating gates and blinked at the height and decor. It was like a picture from a horror story. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. Yuki might welcome him back, but that wouldn't stop his brother from making fun of him. He would never hear the end of it if he turned back now.

"Excuse me," he called, trying to remember everything Yuki told him. Short, simple, and vague, Yuki had said. "Um, this is the Black Order, right? My name is Allen Walker. I was sent here to join you. I'm an exorcist." That was simple enough, right?

There was a brief pause and then a buzz before a voice said, "Let the gatekeeper scan you."

The ugly thing he thought had been a stone decoration turned out to be the gatekeeper. He had been mildly startled (translation: terrified out of his mind) but the scan had proven him human and he was let in with no problem. What had Yuki been worried about?

In the shadows Yuki sighed in relief. He hadn't been sure that Allen would be able to get in without any problems. "Good luck, Allen," he whispered. "You'll need it." He gently bundled his cloak about him and, with a soft swoosh, he jumped back down the cliff.

Allen glanced back and smiled at the telltale signs of his brother's presence. Yuki could be such a mother hen sometimes. That was alright though, because Allen loved him anyway.


End file.
